15|08|2013
“Style embellishes even the simplest dress.”
Livia Cassemiro
TRENDS
TREND OF THE MONTH
COOL SIMPLICITY
Image: Craig McDean
TRENDS
ACCESSORIES
ACNE COEN WHITE BOOTS
Acne Coen is a new take on a classic riding boot with cut outs to give it its own identity.
Image: shop.acnestudios.com
FASHION SHOWS
THEMES
NEO MINIMAL
Themes from Fall | Winter 2013 | 2014 Collections
Bottega Veneta
Max Mara
Images: style.com
SHOPPING
THE BOOK
REI KAWAKUBO AND COMME DES GARCONS
Image: amazon.com
MUSE
REI KAWAKUBO
Rei Kawakubo (川久保 玲 Kawakubo Rei, born 11 October 1942 in Tokyo) is a Japanese fashion designer, founder of Comme des Garçons.
She is untrained as a fashion designer, but studied fine arts and literature at Keio University. After graduation, Kawakubo worked in a textile company and began working as a freelance stylist in 1967.
In 1973, she established her own company, Comme des Garçons Co. Ltd in Tokyo and opened up her first boutique in Tokyo in 1975. Starting out with women’s clothes, Kawakubo added a men’s line in 1978. Three years later, she started presenting her fashion lines in Paris each season, opening up a boutique in Paris in 1982.
Comme des Garçons specialises in anti-fashion, austere, sometimes deconstructed garments. During the 1980s, her garments were primarily in black, dark grey or white. The materials were often draped around the body and featured frayed, unfinished edges along with holes and a general asymmetrical shape. Challenging the established notions of beauty she created an uproar at her debut Paris fashion show where journalists labeled her clothes ‘Hiroshima chic’ amongst other things. Since the late 1980s her colour palette has grown somewhat.
Rei likes to have input in all the various aspects of her business, rather than just focussing on clothes and accessories. She is greatly involved in graphic design, advertising and shop interiors believing that all these things are a part of one vision and are inextricably linked. Her Aoyama, Tokyo store is known for its sloping glass facade decorated with blue dots. This was designed in collaboration between Rei and architect Future Systems and interior designer Takao Kawasaki. Rei published her own bi-annual magazine, ‘Six’ (standing for ‘sixth sense’), in the early 1990s. It featured very little text and consisted mainly for photographs and images that she deemed inspiring. In 1996 Rei was guest editor of the high art publication Visionaire.
Rei is known to be quite reclusive and media shy, preferring her innovative creations to speak for themselves. Her designs have inspired many other late designers like the Belgian Martin Margiela and Ann Demeulemeester, as well as Austrian designer Helmut Lang.
Junya Watanabe, Kawakubo’s former apprentice, started his own line in the early 1990s and has attained much attention in the fashion business in his own right.
Kawakubo is a member of the Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-à-Porter.
Kawakubo created the 2008 autumn “guest designer” collection at H&M, designing men’s and women’s clothing along with some children’s and a unisex perfume.
Image: Mario Testino
BEAUTY
FRAGRANCE
COMME DES GARCONS: BLACK
Modern dark smoky addictive perfume, men and women can both wear it. White and black packaging with logo of Comme des Garçons Black stores.
Black pepper from Madagascar, incense of Somalia, leather, liquorice, birch tar, pepperwood, cedarwood, vetiver.
Image: comme-des-garcons-parfum.com
NEWS
ROMBAUT SPRING | SUMMER 2014
ROMBAUT is an all natural avantgarde footwear concept from the Paris based Belgian designer Mats Rombaut, launching for Autumn Winter 2013 -14.
Artisanally crafted in Italy, ROMBAUT shoes represent a unique crossover between high fashion and ecological awareness. Eliminating toxic and animal derived substances in the process.
The rough yet minimal designs are executed in fig treebark, a biodegradable material collected in Uganda, hand dyed and crafted in Tuscany. The styles are subsequently coated in Amazon rubber for a new, organic and water repellent finish.
ROMBAUT represents more than just a shoe, but a directional fashion concept designed for more balaced future.
Image: rombaut.com